Phoebe Buffay
Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan is a fictional character on the popular US television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), played by Lisa Kudrow. Her claims to fame include her guitar playing in Central Perk and her elaborate improbable stories about her previous lives. Phoebe was known throughout the series as the eccentric, sometimes unintelligent but street smart, friend. Character Early life Phoebe became homeless soon after the departure of all her caregivers and by the age of 14 she was living on the streets of New York City. At one time she lived in a burnt out Buick LeSabre automobile. She never attended high school or college, but she ostensibly met behind a dumpster with a small group of 3 to learn French, which she becomes fluent in as evidenced in "The One Where Joey Speaks French". She also speaks some Italian, and had a short conversation in Italian with Joey's grandmother, Nonnie. (The One Where Ross Can't Flirt) However, her language skills are treated somewhat inconsistently. She misunderstands when one of Monica's assistants introduces himself as a "sous-chef", and she does not appear to understand Rachel's Italian boyfriend, Paolo, when he speaks. Phoebe occasionally resorted to mugging to survive. At one point, when they were fourteen, she mugged Ross, back when these future friends were still strangers (stealing the only copy ever existing of Ross' comic book: Science Boy. Phoebe claims that it "taught me well"). (The One With The Mugging) Phoebe also mentions that she lived in Prague. She also stated that she lived with an albino man who washed windows outside Port Authority, as well as a "guy named Sindey who talked to his hand." Phoebe also claims that she got hepatitis, when a pimp spat in her mouth. On her sweet sixteen, she was chased around a tire yard by an escaped mental patient who, "in his own words wanted to 'kill me or whatever'." (The One With The Home Study) Her previous lifestyle and wild stories have shocked her friends. When she told the story of the time she stabbed a cop, their obviously surprised looks caused her to retort, "Well he stabbed me first!" Phoebe picked up an impressive talent for boxing at a YMCA, where, according to her, the guys "weren't being Christian enough".(The One With The Race Car Bed) Phoebe eventually met and moved in with Monica, which began their friendship. While still living with her, Phoebe married a gay Canadian ice dancer, Duncan, in order to help him obtain a green card. At the time, Phoebe was secretly in love with him and when he left, Monica claimed she saw her eat a cheeseburger. Years later, Duncan returned unexpectedly to request a divorce from Phoebe because he realized that he wasn't really gay, and was in fact in love with a woman. (The One With Phoebe's Husband) In 1993, Phoebe, not being able to take Monica's obsessive neatness, started to secretly move out. She moved her furniture piece by piece into her grandmother's apartment.(The One With The Flashback) Season 1 Phoebe is introduced in this season as the quirky one of the group, and has little family history revealed, except of course for the fact that her mother killed herself. She is shown to be a masseuse in this season, and she voluntarily plays guitar in the coffee house. Season 2 It is revealed that she is married to Duncan, a gay icedancer she was in love with. They divorce, because he reveals that he's straight and wants to marry somebody else. In this season, she also starts searching for her family and finds her younger half brother, Frank Buffay Jr.. Season 3 In this season, Phoebe hangs out with her younger half-brother, Frank Buffay Jr., for the first time. She also finds out about a friend of her adoptive mother's, Phoebe Abbott, who lives on the beach. The group (including Ross's new girlfriend Bonnie) takes a trip to the beach, where Phoebe finds out that her mother's friend is in fact her birth mother. Season 4 Phoebe was involved much in Season 4, starting in the episode, The One With Phoebe's Uterus, when Frank Jr. and Alice, now married, return to tell Phoebe that they are trying for a baby without success. Then Frank asks Phoebe if, for a wedding present, she would consider being the surrogate for Frank and Alice's baby, to which Phoebe eventually agrees. In the next episode, The One With The Embryos, Phoebe has the embryos implanted and waits to see if she gets pregnant. Later in the episode, she takes a pregnancy test and it shows positive. Later in the season, Phoebe goes for an ultrasound scan, which instead of one baby, shows three babies, which is amazing, because as Phoebe puts it, 'The doctor said there was little chance of one attaching, but three...' Near the end of the season, Phoebe is not allowed to fly on an airplane to London for Ross's wedding due to her pregnancy and stays home, along with Rachel (before she decides to leave to tell Ross that she still loves him before he gets married to Emily). Season 5 Phoebe then welcomes the friends back from London but feels left out when they talk about London, so they arrange for her and the rest of them to go to Atlantic City. However, Phoebe's water breaks and she is rushed to hospital. She gives birth to babies Chandler, Leslie and Frank Buffay (although Chandler turns out to be an girl). Also, Phoebe dates policeman Gary (after finding his badge and pretending to be a policewoman), but they break up soon because right after they move in together, Phoebe discovers that he shoots birds. Season 6 In Season 6, Phoebe babysits the one-year-old triplets and was able to look after them, despite making a mess, which Monica freaks out over. She got Chandler and Monica to help her but as Chandler got a tiny plastic gun stuck in his throat they went to hospital, leaving her alone with the babies, and she messed up the apartment. Season 7 Monica and Chandler get engaged. Phoebe gets excited as she thinks as her and Monica and Chandler are best friends she should be able to sing at their wedding. Monica doesn't really want Phoebe to sing but she reluctantly agrees. Joey then breaks the news that Phoebe isn't really singing at the Bing's Wedding and she is really upset and she makes up a song "Whenever I get Married". It's all about how when Phoebe herself gets married, and Monica or Chandler want to sing at her wedding, she won't let them. When Monica is making the wedding plans, Phoebe agrees to be a bridesmaid alongside Rachel. Also, Phoebe discovers a preganancy test in the trash and it's positive. Phoebe thinks it's Monica's and tells everyone Monica is preganant. Monica says she's not and when Phoebe asks who is, Rachel admits to Phoebe that she is pregnant and begs her not to tell anyone. Phoebe makes up a lie that she herself is pregnant. Joey proposes to Phoebe and she accepts but when Joey finds out it's Rachel who is pregnant, he proposes to Rachel and Phoebe is heartbroken. Phoebe is anxious to find out who the father of Rachel's baby is, and she eventually finds out that it's Ross (although at first she thinks it's Tag's, and even calls him up to tell him that Rachel has to talk to him). When Phoebe finds out, she is shocked. Season 8 Early in this season, Phoebe meets her twin sister Ursula's fiancee, Eric, and learns that Ursula has lied to him about many things, such as her age, job, and experiences. Eric breaks up with Ursula and is eventually ready to date Phoebe; however, on their first date, Eric admits that he can't look at Phoebe without seeing Ursula, and seeing Ursula angers him. However, they end up kissing, but Phoebe has to leave for a massage appointment. Later, she comes back, and finds out that Ursula came in after she left and Eric, thinking it was Phoebe, had sex with her. Realizing their relationship is too weird, Phoebe breaks it off with Eric. Later in the season, Phoebe reads her tea leaves and predicts that she's about to meet the man of her dreams. It turns out to be a man named Jim, who on their first date, she finds extremely creepy and a bit crazy. However, at her new drycleaner's, Phoebe meets a different man named Parker, who turns out to be unbelievably over-enthusiastic, and at the Gellers' wedding anniversary, Phoebe finally gets sick of his excitement and breaks up with him. At the end of the season, when Rachel is late for giving birth, Phoebe and Monica bet on when the baby will come. Phoebe bets that it will come later, and she keeps winning. Eventually Rachel's baby is born, and Phoebe becomes an aunt to Emma Geller-Green. At the hospital, while Rachel is in labor, Phoebe meets a cute man with a broken leg, gets Joey to find out his name and hospital room number, as well as personal information from the man himself. Season 9 Early in the season, she starts dating Mike, after Joey set her up with a random guy from the coffeehouse, which turns out to be Mike. They have a really good time together, but they break up when Mike doesn't want to get married again, ever. In the season finale, she got hit by a black car by a drunk driver and died telling everyone to tell Mike she still loved him Season 10 A memorial was held in her name. She was also brought up many times as fond memories. Relationships Rachel )]] Phoebe's relationship with Rachel is a bit more even-keeled than with Monica; they are even roommates for a time in season six, though this leads to some minor clashes, including Phoebe's hatred of Pottery Barn and Rachel's embarrassment at Phoebe's strange jogging style during their morning runs. Phoebe admits that, if she had to choose which of her two girlfriends to have a lesbian relationship with, she would pick Rachel because she is not as high-maintenance as Monica. However at the end of the episode, while Rachel tells Phoebe that she would pick her above Monica to have a relationship, she and Monica both mime behind Phoebe's back that they would definitely pick each other. One time during the early season Phoebe also insulted Rachel's waitressing, saying to her, "Yeah, otherwise someone might actually get what they ordered", sparking a huge row between all the friends. The pair get closer as the show goes on with them moving in with each other in the sixth season but Rachel is forced to move out when a fire destroys their home, when it's completed Phoebe thinks Rachel would rather live with Joey than her and she buys Joey presents to try and lure her out of the apartment. Also in the fifth season when Ross' wife Emily asks him not to see Rachel anymore, Rachel comments that it was only going to be a matter of time before someone is pushed out of the group and says "I always thought Phoebe would be the one to go" because she lives far away and is not related. Despite this Rachel apologizes to Phoebe and tells her that they should leave and make their own group because they're "the best ones" and Phoebe agrees and says "Alright, but let's try to get Joey". At the end of that episode when Monica and Chandler talk to Joey privately in Monica's bedroom Phoebe says "We're so stupid, they're trying to take Joey!" In the seventh season, Phoebe didn't believe Rachel when she said that she had kissed a girl and brings Phoebe to dinner with the girl (Winona Ryder) and denies it but at the end it turned out to be true when Rachel kisses the girl. When Rachel's friend has left Phoebe kissed Rachel "To know what all the fuss was about". Rachel, looking shocked asks "and?" Phoebe shrugs "I've had better" before walking away, followed by Rachel. Monica Although Phoebe and Monica are close, Phoebe often finds her competitive, obsessive-compulsive behavior off-putting. During one of Monica's obsessive outbreaks Phoebe jokes about having "woke the beast." Also, when explaining why she has to move out, Phoebe says, "I need to live in a world where people can spill!" She moves out of Monica's apartment surreptitiously, taking out one possession at a time to avoid discovery. However, once she is discovered, she states that she still wishes to be Monica's friend. At one point, some time before the first episode, she attempted to "cut Monica out" of her life. They also clash when Monica becomes Phoebe's wedding planner and becomes bossy and demanding and when Phoebe starts singing outside Monica's restaurant, much to Monica's annoyance and embarrassment. Phoebe takes this harshly and insults Monica's cooking and restaurant while Monica retaliates by insulting Phoebe's music. During Monica and Chandler's engagement, Monica tells Rachel and Phoebe that she cannot decide who to pick to be her maid of honor at the wedding and so leaves the decision to them. Initially it is mutually decided by the two that Phoebe could be Monica's maid of honor as Phoebe says that she has never been maid of honor for anyone before. However when Rachel discovers that she has been a maid of honor, Joey tells them that he and Ross will hold a competition in which Rachel and Phoebe act out potential maid of honor scenarios. Phoebe ultimately wins, but later tells Rachel that she can be Monica's maid of honor since it means more to her. Joey )]] Phoebe and Joey had a similar relationship and appear to be "on the same wavelength" quite often, perhaps partially due to their being the only members of the group who lack a college education and didn't know each other as long as the others have. Joey is Phoebe's best male friend and vice-versa; they have dinner together once a month to talk about the rest of the group. Both characters show a fondness and softness for each other, even when joking or being upset towards the others. In "The One With the Ride Along" she casually explained that "when the revolution comes, I will have to destroy you all...except you, Joey." Joey was also angered when Monica and Chandler did not show support for his "identical hand twin" idea and said that none of them are allowed to live in his hand-shaped mansion "except for you, Pheebs, you can live in the thumb." Later, she helped Joey by being Regina Philange, pretending to be a businesswoman who would pay a lot for identical hand twins. However she did once say that she does not want her {surrogate} kids to "grow up in a world where Joey is right." Joey is in awe of Phoebe's knowledge of such things as reincarnation and openly wishes that he could remember his past lives, to which Phoebe replies that Joey has never had any past lives because he is "brand new". Phoebe tries to teach Joey how to speak French, at his request, because he claims fluency on his résumé. Much to Phoebe's annoyance though, Joey has no aptitude for foreign language and just reels off gibberish (both Kudrow, married to a French executive, and LeBlanc, who incidentally has a French surname, speak fluent French, as does Matthew Perry, who is Canadian). She also tries to teach him the guitar, but forbids him to touch one, and they have a brief falling out when he seeks out a qualified teacher. Phoebe reportedly had a crush on Joey, and was jealous of his relationship with her twin sister, Ursula. As Phoebe and Joey's relationship never goes past a kiss (they've kissed five times during the course of the show), Joey cannot be considered as one of Phoebe's significant others. In "The One Where They All Turn Thirty", Phoebe is lamenting all the things she has failed to do before turning 31, including having "the perfect kiss",and meeting Portuguese people so Joey gives her a kiss and says "Oh, I'm 1/16 Portuguese." Phoebe quite frequently hits on Joey for no apparent reason. Also, Phoebe and Joey have an agreement to be eachother's backup marriage if they aren't married by 40. Kudrow later revealed in an interview that she and LeBlanc had pitched an idea to the writers involving Joey and Phoebe having casual sex all along, but the pitch was rejected. Chandler Chandler acts as something of a little brother to Phoebe, demanding on several occasions, "Pheebs! Play with me!" After Phoebe learns that Chandler is seeing Monica, she makes hilarious sexual advances towards him to test the strength of his devotion, despite having a platonic relationship. But on some occasions Phoebe hints that she has affection towards Chandler, as in "The One Where Ross Meets Elizabeth's Dad" when Phoebe tells Chandler that she'll be waiting for him to make a move on her as she smiles. Chandler also asks Phoebe to help him select an engagement ring for Monica after she walks in on him looking at ring brochures. Eventually Chandler is called upon to walk Phoebe down the aisle when she marries Mike, although originally it was to be Joey. Although the characters were established as being close friends (the two are often seen hanging out as a pair), the nature of their story lines often meant limited interaction. She also decided that she would name one of the surrogate children of her brother Frank after Chandler Bing. Ross Though Phoebe and Ross are firm friends, their relationship sometimes leads to conflict between Phoebe's "New Age" beliefs and Ross's scientific ones, such as their debates over the theories of evolution and gravity, and whether Phoebe's dead mother had been reincarnated as a cat. Phoebe even suggests that, at some point in the future, she and Ross will have a disagreement that ends with her killing him. In "The One With Joey's Big Break", Phoebe claims to be mad at Ross, but "can't remember" why. She remembers that he called her boring, but this turned out to be merely a dream (while they were playing chess on an iced-over lake and he turned into Cameron Diaz). When she is getting ready to celebrate her birthday during the 9th season and Ross and Rachel say that only one of them can attend a dinner with her, she says enthusiastically "Rachel! Rachel!" and Ross sarcastically says "Gee thanks, I'll make sure to put a lot of thought into your gift" - though both do attend the dinner, which is a disaster because of all of the friends' behavior. Despite their difference in beliefs, both usually turn to one another for advice or help. When Ross comes to know that Phoebe had never ever ridden a bike in her entire life and that as a kid, she saw her neighbor with a bike, he gives her a bike exactly as described by Phoebe. Also, when Ross realizes that he is in love with Rachel, Phoebe pushes him to tell Rachel how he feels. Ross and Phoebe appear to turn to one another when they need advice (Ross turned to Phoebe for advice about telling Monica about Rachel moving in and Phoebe turned to Ross for advice about Mike). In a flashback episode, it is revealed that after Ross and Carol's relationship ended, in a moment of weakness, she and Ross almost had sex on the pool table inside the bar that would become Central Perk. It is revealed that a mugger who attacked a teenage Ross outside St. Mark's Comics, stealing his backpack and the only existing copy of his cartoon "Science Boy", had been a teenage, homeless Phoebe. To show how sorry she was for mugging Ross, Phoebe returns "Science Boy", which she has stored in a box labeled "Crap from the Street" ever since. She claims that she had kept it because she felt it was too good to sell for food money ("or smoke"), as she apparently learned a lot from Science Boy when she was growing up on the street. Phoebe thing that the situation is "kinda neat", because it gives her and Ross a link in their childhood that she doesn't share with the others. In the last episode of Friends, Phoebe drives Ross to the airport in her taxi, and delays Rachel's flight so that Ross can declare his love to Rachel. Marriage In Season 9, Joey—somewhat inadvertently—introduces Phoebe to Mike Hannigan (played by Paul Rudd). Phoebe and Mike begin a long relationship which temporarily ends when Phoebe learns Mike, having already been through one disastrous marriage, never wants to remarry. Mike then learns that Phoebe's old boyfriend, David (Hank Azaria), is planning to propose to her; he then changes his mind about marriage and proposes to Phoebe before David can. This proposal was rejected, as Phoebe only wanted to know that marriage was a possibility, but she and Mike become a couple again. They become officially engaged in "The One Where Rachel's Sister Baby-Sits". In the final season in "The One with Phoebe's Wedding", the two are married in the street outside Central Perk, with Monica as maid of honor, Rachel as a bridesmaid, Joey officiating (he was ordained over the Internet for Monica and Chandler's wedding), Chandler giving Phoebe away and Ross holding Mike's beloved but smelly childhood dog as a groomsman. When she changes her name after the wedding, Phoebe learns she can change it to anything, and briefly becomes "Princess Consuela Bananahammock"(although requesting the friends call her "Valerie"). Her husband Mike retaliates by changing his name to "Crap Bag". Phoebe reconsiders after learning that banana hammock is slang for a Speedo, and changes her name again to Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan. Phoebe has been married at least once before; in Season 2 ("The One With Phoebe's Husband"), Duncan (an apparently gay ice dancer, an old friend and someone Phoebe was in love with) comes to Monica's house, where he thinks Phoebe is living, and asks to see his wife. Her husband of six years, Dunny comes out as straight but divorces Phoebe anyway, and we learn that they only got married so Duncan could stay in the country. It is also possible that Phoebe was previously married in Las Vegas at some point in the past. She indicates her belief that people married in Vegas are only married within Vegas city limits, and is surprised when Monica informs her such a union is legal all over the world. After a moment of mild distress, she shrugs off the revelation. It was reveiled in the The One That Goes Behind The Scenes' featurette, featured on the Season 10 DVD, that Phoebe actually got married in Vegas once before. Phoebe is also briefly engaged to Joey. In the episode entitled "The One With The Red Sweater", Joey believes that Phoebe is pregnant and proposes to her. Phoebe says yes and accepts his ring, but Monica tells Joey that it is Rachel who is pregnant, so Joey proposes to Rachel and must retrieve the ring from a reluctant Phoebe. Family Phoebe reveals her bizarre family history piece by piece throughout the series. Before it was discovered that her biological mother is alive, Phoebe was the only one among the friends to have at least one deceased parent. Her biological mother is Phoebe Abbott, a real-estate agent, who, after birthing Phoebe and her identical twin Ursula at age 18, gave them up to her best friend Lily. Lily's husband, a pharmacist named Frank Buffay, was the girls' biological father. Frank left when they were very young. Lily, the woman Phoebe believed to be her birthmother until the end of Season 3, worked on a barge during Phoebe and Ursula's childhood, while living in upstate New York. Phoebe's mother Lily committed suicide on Christmas Day when the twins were 14. Their stepfather was imprisoned (for reasons unknown) shortly thereafter (and was still incarcerated as of Season 10), driving the twins to the streets of New York City. Phoebe and her twin sister were thus left alone. Phoebe left their hometown in upstate New York shortly thereafter and moved to New York City to earn a living. She didn't succeed and spent several years homeless on the street before moving in with Monica; she stayed there until 1993, when she moved in with Grandmother Frances (actually Lily's mother, played by Audra Lindley). To hide Frank Buffay's real identity, Frances told her he was a tree surgeon in Burma where there are no phones. She showed Phoebe pictures of another man claiming that he was her father. He was actually a model whose picture was a sample used in picture frames Phoebe's grandmother bought. Also in Phoebe's grandmother's apartment there is a framed picture of Albert Einstein, who Phoebe believes is her grandfather. After she left the streets, Phoebe earned a massage therapist license and joined a practice. Frances dies during season five, and at the memorial service Phoebe finally meets her father Frank Buffay. Following her grandmother's death, Phoebe continued to live in her apartment with her friend Denise (who Phoebe seems to have made up to use as an excuse not to let Rachel move in) and later joined by Rachel Green. In season six Rachel's hair straightener sets the apartment afire, prompting Phoebe to reside temporarily with Chandler and Monica. When her own apartment is rebuilt (with only one bedroom), she lived there alone until she married Mike in season ten. Phoebe eventually meets her biological mother, Phoebe Abbott. Phoebe and Ursula were estranged, though precisely when or why this happened is never fully explained. As adults they remain distant, only speaking when necessary. Ursula is shown to be callous toward Phoebe. Ursula was revealed to be the waitress from Mad About You, which is the show that Lisa Kudrow was appearing on when Friends began. Lisa Kudrow played both Phoebe and Ursula at the same time using the split screen effect. The sisters also have a half-brother, Frank Buffay Jr., named after their father; Phoebe discovered Frank during one of her attempts to find her father. After marrying his home economics teacher, Alice Knight, Frank Jr. asked Phoebe if she would act as a surrogate mother for them, as they were desperate to have children but weren't able to conceive. Phoebe agreed and duly produced triplets: a boy, Frank Jr. Jr.; and 2 girls, Leslie and Chandler. During Phoebe's pregnancy, Lisa Kudrow was actually pregnant. It is suggested that Phoebe had already met her half-brother before knowing who he was. In "The One With The Baby On The Bus", he makes a short appearance, asking Phoebe to give him back his condom which he dropped at her as she was playing her songs outside Central Perk. None of Phoebe's family members attended her wedding to Mike. Personality Having experienced nothing like a normal, complete childhood, Phoebe is often quite naive and innocent, and is in some regards still a child at heart. She still believes Santa Claus exists, until Joey says otherwise. Phoebe also shocks some people in the storyline with her frankness on occasions that catches them off guard from her usual self. This straightforwardness is a running gag throughout the Friends series. Phoebe is the most promiscuous of the three girls, being the one most often referred to as having casual sex. Phoebe has mentioned skills of CPR. During the episode "The One With Rachel's Phone Number", Rachel attempts to convince Mike to do her a favor by promising that Phoebe will do anything he wants: "Seriously, I'm talking dirty stuff." Mike is surprised that it could "get any dirtier". In one episode, it has been suggested that Phoebe has had a threesome. In one episode where Rachel and Phoebe fight over a guy Phoebe says that she hasn't been on a date in very long. Rachel claims then that Phoebe had a date 3 days ago to which Phoebe replies, "That wasn’t a date! That was, that was just friends getting together…having sex." Another episode has Phoebe and Mike celebrating their anniversary, Rachel asks her "So which anniversary?, first date?, first kiss?, first time sleeping together?" to which Phoebe replies "Yeah". There are several hints that Phoebe is infact bisexual. For example, Phoebe kisses Rachel in one episode to experience Rachel's claim to be a fantastic kisser. Phoebe says that if she had to select Monica or Rachel to have a lesbian relationship with, she would select Rachel because she is "not as high-maintenance" as Monica. An example of this occurs in the "The One With Ross And Monica's Cousin"; after Ross and Monica's gorgeous female cousin, Cassie, is shuffled from Monica's apartment to Ross', and finally to Phoebe's (because Chandler and Ross are uncontrollably attracted to her.) Phoebe experiences the same sexual desire for her that the men did. (In voiceover we hear Phoebe's thought: "Ask her out! She's not YOUR cousin!") Phoebe later claims that Monica "has the breasts of a Greek goddess". Phoebe often uses her chaotic childhood and traumatic past as sympathy ploys to her friends. References to her mother's death were usually to get her own way. Phoebe does not seem to mind that the other friends know she is only referring to her mother's death to try to get her own way. In one episode Rachel says, "Now, wait a minute, you can't use that to get the cute guy's phone and the last blueberry muffin!" to which Phoebe replies, "Did I use that already today? I'm sorry." However, as the series progressed, the other friends indulge her less frequently. Phoebe believes in reincarnation and refers to multiple gods; however, not all of Phoebe's beliefs seem internally connected. She is very open to the existence of paranormal phenomena and willing to consider the most bizarre scientific theories, much to Ross' confusion and despair. She, however, does not believe the theory of evolution or even that of gravity, claiming she feels more pushed down than pulled. At one point, Phoebe is even possessed by the spirit of an 82 year-old woman who had unfinished business. Phoebe also claims to hear voices in her head, and at one point, even heard what Joey was singing in his head. In "The One With All The Thanksgivings" Phoebe reveals that she believes she possessed the same look in at least two previous lives, and that Joey does not have any previous life memories because "he's brand new". Phoebe frequently uses the alter ego Regina Phalange. Once when she is pretending to be French, she even adopts a French version called "Régine Filange". The first reference to Regina Phalange is when she is trying to contact Ross in England, and pretends to be a Dr. Regina Phalange diagnosing a disease. The last reference is in the series finale when Phoebe successfully stalls Rachel's plane to Paris by saying there was a problem with the "Left Phalange." Her resistance against large corporations is made manifest in several episodes in which she speaks out against chain stores and the ideal of corporate greed, such as in "The One With The Apothecary Table" (against Pottery Barn, which she later admits liking). In season 9, most notably in the episode "The One With The Fertility Test", she tries to convince Rachel not to redeem a gift-certificate to a massage spa because it puts independent massage therapists such as herself out of business. However, when Rachel clandestinely visits the spa to redeem her gift certificate, it is revealed that Phoebe is employed at the spa as a massage therapist because of the good money, benefits, and 401(k) plan (she even exclaims that she has to "pay taxes!"). Phoebe is occasionally referred to as a heavy drinker, although she never demonstrates any dependence that would make her an alcoholic. In a season 7 episode, when describing her feelings for a man she's dating, she tells Monica "I feel like I've had ten drinks today...and I only had 6." She also drank over twenty drinks at a charity event stating "I think I've helped the kids so much I might vomit." At Monica's 30th birthday party, when Monica gets very drunk, Phoebe decides to "get twice as drunk so no one will notice Monica". The morning after Ross and Rachel get married in Las Vegas, Phoebe and the rest of the friends have a breakfast buffet. During the breakfast, she explains a few times that she is drunk, after drinking while having breakfast. Musical talent Phoebe's somewhat dubious musical skills were a popular source of entertainment. Her stunning array of songs include "The Double-Double-Double-Jointed Boy", "Bisexuals", "Sue, Sue, Suicide", "You Suck", "Shut Up and Go Home", "Pervert Parade", "Sticky Shoes", "Ode to a Pubic Hair (Little Black Curly Hair)", and most famously "Smelly Cat", which became both a jingle for a kitty litter television commercial (not sung by her) and a serious commercial release (also not her singing). Other popular tunes include "The Grandma Song" (a song about grandparent death) and "The Cow in the Meadow goes Moo" (a song about meat production and packaging) which she sang to the children in the public library program, earning her the name "The Lady Who Sings About the Truth". She also sang a song called "Happy Birthday, Emma" in Season 10, on the occasion of the birthday of Rachel and Ross's daughter Emma. Phoebe's musical influences and favorite bands are heterogeneous: she seems to know some tunes from Lionel Richie by heart, yet a taste for rock, heavy metal and hard rock can be clearly noticed. To name a few examples: *She attempts to meet Sting while pretending to be Susan, as Ben goes to school with Sting's son. She ends up with a restraining order. *In season 9, episode 03, she says she's "working on a couple Iron Maiden covers". *In season 7, episode 17, she expresses her love for the grindcore band Carcass. *In season 9, episode 13, she sings Queen's "We Are the Champions" at a piano bar. *In season 4, episode 1, Phoebe and her mother both say that they like The Beatles. At her wedding with Mike in season 10, episode 12, the song "Here, There and Everywhere" by The Beatles is played on steeldrums as she walks up the aisle. She describes her musical style as "acoustic folksy stuff" (season 9, episode 03). In the first seasons, she plays in open tuning, which requires only one finger to play major chords. In later seasons she plays in standard tuning. While attempting to teach Joey guitar, she professes to be "self-taught" and doesn't know the real names of chords. She refers to G-sharp as "Ice Berg" and A as "Bear Claw" because of her finger formations while playing them. Smelly Cat Smelly Cat first appeared in the second season episode "The One With The Baby On The Bus" where it was revealed to be Phoebe's most popular song. At the end of the episode she teaches a character played by guest star Chrissie Hynde to play the song. In "The One Where Eddie Moves In" Phoebe makes a professional recording of the song for possible commercial release, though her voice is replaced by an older singer. A short video for the song also appeared in this episode and is included in full as a bonus feature on the second season DVD set. In "The One With Phoebe's Ex-Partner" a character played by guest star Elizabeth Daily uses the song as a jingle for a cat litter commercial. In the fifth season episode "The One With Joey's Bag" Phoebe meets her estranged father, who reveals he sang a lullaby to her when she was a child, called "Sleepy Girl", which has the same melody as Smelly Cat. The "Smelly Cat Medley" track on the Friends Again soundtrack, credited to Phoebe Buffay & The Hairballs (featuring the Pretenders), features a recording of the scene, and then a new, more artistic recording of the duet between Hynde and Phoebe. Hynde then launches into a hard-rock version with new lyrics. The song became so famous that a group of Portuguese comedians had elected Gato Fedorento (Smelly Cat in Portuguese) for their show's name, claiming they were fans of Friends. Also when meeting Mike's parents, she sings it to them during dinner because nobody had spoken in seventeen minutes in "The One With Ross' Inappropriate Song". Animal rights and the environment Phoebe has many principles, though she sometimes fails to stick to them. She is a vegetarian, and doesn't eat "food with a face", however she succumbs to her cravings for meat during her pregnancy, though only after Joey agrees to abstain from meat so that no extra animals would need to be killed. She frequently uses her vegetarianism to apologize for some behaviours, especially the ones which makes animals suffer; for example, when she punches Joey, making him bleed, she seems to be reasonably surprised and says: "Wow, and I'm a vegetarian!" She is against the wearing of fur coats, though decides she looks good in one that she inherits although she later stops wearing it because she believes a squirrel is judging her. Once, she became very upset upon witnessing trees being cut down and sold as Christmas trees, and when witnessing a woman stubbing out a cigarette on a tree forced her to apologize to it. She also cries when flowers die (and even arranges funerals for them), and feels sorry about sitting on a line of ants and accidentally killing them. She even once named a rat living in her apartment - "Bob" and a mouse "Susie". When Bob had babies and was killed, she tried to raise the babies herself. Although she is a vegetarian, in "The One In Vegas", after remarking about being handed a coupon for a 99-cent steak and lobster dinner, Monica says, "Phoebe, you don't eat animals", to which Phoebe responds, "For 99 cents, I'd eat you." Also in "The One with The Blackout" she sings that she "stays away from dairy" which implies she is a vegan, or possibly lactose intolerant(although, she stated she once worked on Dairy Queen which is highly unlikely for a vegan). On a separate occasion, in "The One With The Dozen Lasagnas", Phoebe is seen in the background finishing off the Lasagnas with Monica - despite the fact that they weren't vegetarian Lasagnas. In "The One With Phoebe's Husband", Monica remarks that when Phoebe's first husband left, she became so upset that she ate a cheeseburger. Also, in "The One With All The Thanksgivings", Phoebe apparently ate turkey. Also in "The One With George Stephanopoulos" the girls are sharing secrets and Monica says "remember the vegetarian paté you loved so much . . . well if goose is a vegetable." In "The One With Ross's Inappropriate Song" she reluctantly eats veal when invited over to dinner at Mike's parents house, remarking "I am a vegetarian except for veal!" Birthday Phoebe revealed that her birthday is February 16th in an early season, and in "The One With Phoebe's Birthday Dinner" she said that the restaurant could only have a table for them on Thursday and Joey replied saying that Thursday is Halloween, implying that Phoebe's birthday is around Halloween. Trivia * When Phoebe became pregnant during Season 4, it was to account for Lisa Kudrow's actual pregnancy. Kudrow gave birth to a boy in Season 5. * Phoebe's hair in 'The One That Could Have Been' was Lisa Kudrow's real hair. Most of season six she wore a wig because her hair was thought to be too short for Phoebe's character. * In the show's original script, Lisa and Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) were secondary characters, but this was changed due to rewrites. * Phoebe is the only "Friend" who doesn't have a middle name. (Her sister Ursula's middle name is Pamela). * Phoebe is the only person in her family and her friends that knows the least about her family (it is shown in a few episodes that her twin sister Ursula has her birth certificate and their mother's suicide note that says their birth mother Phoebe Abbott lives in Montauk and her grandmother knows about the whereabouts of her father Frank Buffay) * In The One Where Rachel Goes Back to Work Phoebe claims she was friends with actor Richard Dreyfuss. * Phoebe is the only member of Friends to not date or marry cast member of friends. However she does kiss Ross, Chandler, Joey and Rachel. * Phoebe and Ross are the only two friends not only marry more than once, but also to marry outside the Friends group: Duncan and Mike for Pheobe and Carol, Emily and, assumingly after the series too, Rachel for Ross. * Phoebe stated that she went through a phase in junior high school where she thought she was a witch. * In The One In Vegas, Part 2 she implies that she married in Vegas. * Come on Emily, PUT THAT THING IN HERE!!!! * Still not here...!!! 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